Book of Lamentations

1. How?
begins the book of Lamentations
Hope in the midst of ‘how?’

2. “How” is the title of the book in Hebrew
(which uses the first word as title)

3. The leading word
“How?”
would be a common expressing of grief

4. Chapters 1-4 (all acrostic) are also written in what is
called “limping meter,” a cadence used in funeral
dirges, and thus most appropriate for this lament
over the destruction of Jerusalem.
see https://reasonsforhopejesus.com/lamentations/
Jeremiah’s lament over Jerusalem begins with
the exclamation “how” or “how sad,” a word
frequently used to begin a funeral dirge

5. First we will compare two art styles
Rembrandt

6. Thomas Kincade
see https://thomaskinkade.com/shop/limited-edition-art/bridges/sunset-on-lamplight-lane-limited-edition-art/
and

7. Lamentations will be much more
like a Rembrandt with some light
in the spot to highlight
(like hope in chapter 3)
but mostly dark
A self portrait of Rembrandt

8. Verses from Lamentations that most often
come to mind and most often memorized
may be like ‘the steadfast love of the Lord never cease.
His mercies never come to the end.
They are new every morning’
Those are more like a light portion of a Rembrandt
set against a dark larger background but not the whole
picture

9. Lamentations 1:11
All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength.
“Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.”
Lamentations 1:12
“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.
Lamentations 1:20
“Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death.
Lamentations 2:20
Look, O Lord, and see! With whom have you dealt thus? Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
Lamentations 3:50
until the Lord from heaven looks down and sees;
Lamentations 5:1
[ Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord ] Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace!
A small glimpse of what’s coming
Look and see!
In the middle (3rd chapter)
a reminder the suffering will continue
until God ‘looks’ upon it
In the final prayer (5th chapter)
another reminder the suffering will continue
until God ‘looks’ upon it

10. Main point in middle
The book is chiastic.
which leaves the main point in the center
A The misery of Jerusalem's citizens ch. 1
B God's punishment of Jerusalem ch. 2
C Judgement falls on an individual ch. 3
who also points us toward hope
B’ God's severity toward Jerusalem ch. 4
A' The response of the godly ch. 5
While the individual may be historically Jeremiah,
he points forward to God’s wrath falling on one man,
Jesus. Jesus not only takes wrath but is a display of
mercy. Both things seen in Chapter 3

11. Layout of Lamentations:
some hope in the center
draws to a close with angst
1
2
3
4
5
1x22
1x22
3x22
1x22
1x22
66
66
66
44
22
most
hopeful
chapter
chapter verses
in english
lines
in Hebrew
12 sets
of groups of
22 Hebrew
lines
7 sets
of representing
completeness
except the last
is not acrostic
so incomplete?
the first
four poems
are acrostic
last poem
plain
unadorned
un-acrostic
entirely a prayer

12. Layout of Lamentations:
some hope in the center
winds down to a close with angst
The style may emphasis:
complete grief
and someone exhausted in pain
with a short unadorned prayer filling the end
1
2
3
4
5
66
66
66
44
22
chapter
lines
in Hebrew
The first four poems
have expressions of grief
ending in short prayers
The final poem
is simple, short and
entirely a prayer
artistry

13. That’s a lot of charts and numbers
can you give me the bottom line?

14. Think of it like this ….
Lamentations starts artistically, long and adorned
and winds down shorter and ends
with the shortest chapter as an unadorned prayer

15. Also ….
Often an artistic work has a main point in the center
and the strongest amount of hope is splashed
in the center chapter

16. The 5 poems
starting with
The city of Jerusalem personified

17. Chapter 1
A 22 verse acrostic poem
the city sits as a desolate weeping widow
overcome with miseries.
The city of Jerusalem personified
and suffering as a widow

18. How Lonely Sits the City
Chapter 1
How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave.

19. Judah has gone into exile

20. The roads to Zion mourn

21. Lamentations 1:2
She weeps bitterly in the night, with
tears on her cheeks; among all her
lovers she has none to comfort
her; all her friends have dealt
treacherously with her; they have
become her enemies.
A regret over ‘lovers’
near start of poem

22. Judah has gone into exile
she dwells among the nations
she finds no resting place

23. from the daughters of Zion all majesty has departed

24. her people trade their treasures for food
is there any sorry like my sorrow?

25. the Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word

26. Lamentations 1:19
“I called to my lovers, but they
deceived me; my priests and elders
perished in the city, while they sought
food to revive their strength.
A regret over ‘lovers’
as poem draws to end
could her lovers include
bad religious shepherding?
(more on priests, elders, and
so called prophets later)

27. there is no one to comfort me. Enemies have heard of my trouble
they are glad You have don't it
Let their evil doing come before You and deal with them
God is acknowledges as the one who has done it
yet enemies condemned in part for ‘being glad’ over it

28. Poem 1
Jerusalem the
grieving Widow
summary
high in artistry
a dirge with limping meter
displayed A to Z
acrostic to be memorized
ends with a short 3 verse prayer

29. In the second Poem, the
first 8 verses
have 21 acts of God
against Jerusalem
Chapter 2
God is behind the destruction
judgement has come

30. The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity
Chapter 2
How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!
He has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2
The Lord has swallowed up without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought down to the ground in dishonor
the kingdom and its rulers.
3
He has cut down in fierce anger
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
the temple

31. 4
He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.
5
The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel;
he has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
mourning and lamentation.
6
He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins his meeting place;
the Lord has made Zion forget
festival and Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7
The Lord has scorned his altar,
disowned his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.
8
The Lord determined to lay in ruins
the wall of the daughter of Zion;
he stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to lament;
they languished together.
AND

32. 11
My eyes are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out to the ground
because of the destruction of the
daughter of my people,
because infants and babies faint
in the streets of the city.
12
They cry to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers' bosom.
centermost verses
Jeremiah physically hurts
as he takes in the sights

33. 14
Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
that are false and misleading.
bad religious shepherding
grieved over
One failing of the
so called prophets

34. all who pass
ask about of the songs
of Psalm 48
and how Jerusalem is the
joy of the whole earth

35. 19
“Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20
Look, O Lord, and see!
With whom have you dealt thus?….
And a 4 verse prayer
at end
a plea

36. Poem 2
The Lord destroyed
without pity
high in artistry
a dirge with limping meter
displayed A to Z
acrostic to be memorized
ends with a short 4 verse prayer

37. Chapter 3
A longer 66 verse acrostic poem in the center chapter
Before and after this chapter are
poems of lament
here in the center and longest poem
we find some hope in the midst of the tragedy
Hope for the people of God
The chastisement would only be for their
good; a better day would dawn for them.

38. Chapter 3
1 I am the man who experienced indignation
the the rod of His wrath
The judgement is falling as if on one man
Jeremiah pointing to Jesus
he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
surely against me he turns his hand
He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;
he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
late;
He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;

39. NOT
19
Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
20
My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
17
my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I recall the dark
things
I also recall the hope
and it is my
anchor
turning
point

40. 22 The steadfast love of the Lord
never ceases; his mercies never
come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
His mercies are new every morning
His mercies are new every morning
NOT

41. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly for
the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in
his youth.
It is good that one should wait
It is good that one should wait
It is good that one should wait
NOT

42. 28 Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid
on him;
29 let him put his mouth in the dust— there
may yet be hope;
30 let him give his cheek to the one who
strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever,
32 but, though he cause grief, he will have
compassion according to the abundance of
his steadfast love;
33 for he does not afflict from his heart or
grieve the children of men.
perhaps referred to by Jesus
with the turn the other cheek
or to Jesus suffering as well
the Lord will not cast off forever,
the Lord will not cast off forever,

43. 31
For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32
but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33
for he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men.
34
To crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the earth,
35
to deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36
to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
the Lord does not approve.
centermost verses
he does not afflict from his heart
he does not afflict from his heart

44. 55
“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
56
you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
57
You came near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’
do not fear
do not fear

45. Poem 3
Hope
in the darkness
high in artistry
a dirge with limping meter
displayed A to Z
triple acrostic to be memorized
ends with a short 12 verse imprecatory prayer

46. Chapter 4
…. laments the ruin and desolation of the city and
temple, but traces it to the people's sins.
Another 22 verse acrostic poem
A poem on the hard judgement and shock felt

47. Chapter 4
How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
at the head of every street.

48. The sights are hard, difficult and raw
The severity of the judgement described
holy things despised
Children lost
babies hungry
women raped
people hung
famine

49. This was for the sins of their
priests and prophets
says verse 13
and with no guidance
they wandered blind in the streets
in verse 14
one failing of the prophets
was shedding the blood
of the righteous

50. 11
The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and he kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12
The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
centermost verses
the wrath of God did
what the nations didn't think possible

51. Poem 4
holy stones,
holy people
all scattered
high in artistry
a dirge with limping meter
shorter, dropping to 44 lines from 66 in Hebrew
like poems 1,2,3 is acrostic to be memorized
ends with a short prayer

52. Chapter 5
Not acrostic but a prayer
A simple, short unadorned prayer
A prayer that Zion's reproach may be taken away in
the repentance and recovery of the people.

53. Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord
5
Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
look, and see our disgrace!
2
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3
We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
4
We must pay for the water we drink;
the wood we get must be bought.
In the Geneva Bible, this last chapter
is titled ‘The Prayer of Jeremiah’

54. 11
Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the towns of Judah.
12
Princes are hung up by their hands;
no respect is shown to the elders.
centermost verses
underscored the tragedy

55. our crown has fallen from our head

56. Lamentations 5:
21
Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—
22
unless you have utterly rejected us,
and you remain exceedingly angry with us.
And a final prayer

57. Poem 5
entirely a prayer
unadorned
shortest
not acrostic
entirely a prayer
ended in on an ‘unless you have rejected us’

58. The book ends on a note sounding unhopeful
‘unless You have rejected us’
the book already said in Lamentations 3
‘You will not cast off forever’
No, he won’t utterly reject us forever

59. Also ….
Unless you have ‘utterly rejected us’
was hypothetical for us - not so for Jesus
Jesus was alone, insulted,
suffered and forsaken and took on Himself
the wrath expressed in this book against sin.

60. How?
Hope in the midst of ‘how?’

61. Death in the City
from Wiki:
This work was written by
Francis Schaeffer and Udo Middlemann
as an answer to the question:
In what has been called a post-Christian world, what should be our perspective and how should
we function as individuals, as institutions, as orthodox Christians, and as those who claim to be
Bible-believing? (p.209)
The basic answer, given by Schaeffer in Chapter One, is that "the church in our generation needs
reformation, revival, and constructive revolution." (p. 209)
A suggested resource
somewhat inspired
by Lamentations

62. EstherHow?
In the Jewish Bible
Lamentations and Esther are side by side
complementing each other